Day: December 23, 2014

In early December, 2014, the Counsel for Children (CFC) program was established by The Public Guardian and Trustee Amendment Act, 2014 (No.2). As noted on the Government of Saskatchewan news page, the “program is intended specifically for situations where children and youth benefit from having their views and best interests represented in child protection proceedings by independent legal counsel”. The objectives of the CFC program are to provide a legal appointment service to:

ensure the child’s or youth’s voice is heard in child protection proceedings;

provide timely appointments for legal representation;

establish best practices, supports, and standards for quality legal representation;

create a body of lawyers with expertise and experience in this area of law.

More information can be found on the Saskatchewan Justice website. The website also includes these helpful documents:

As noted on the Government of Saskatchewan news page, “the proposed Saskatchewan Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2014 will clarify that discrimination against transgender people is and has been against the law, as well as strengthen the rights of renters, regardless of sexual orientation”. While transgender people currently have protection under the Code, gender identity will be added as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The proposed Act will also repeal an exemption that allows landlord’s to refuse a renter based on their sexual orientation if renting a suite attached to the landlord’s own home. Other changes include:

Raising the maximum damages the court can award from $10,000 to $20,000 where a person has wilfully or recklessly violated the Act or the person injured has suffered with respect to dignity;

Increasing the maximum fines payable by those convicted of an offence to $10,000 for a first offence and $25,000 for each subsequent offence;

Updating provisions that allow the Human Rights Commission to apply for court orders to produce information during an investigation;

Making it an offence to interfere with an investigation by the Human Rights Commission; and